Brief Report

This view of a relaxed quayside scene was a hom- age and presumably also a gift to Camille Pissarro, the artist’s friend and the first owner of the picture. Dubois-Pillet composed his motif along an austere diagonal and sketched in first in red chalk(?) on the canvas which he had presumably primed himself in white. The red chalk lines can be seen in various places along the boundaries between the different colours (figs. 6-8). The painting was executed in the Pointillist manner, its coloration is balanced and harmonious, and so dense that hardly any of the ground is visible (fig. 9). When applying the colours, the painter proceeded in a highly rational fashion: the first, very coarse, comma-like brush-strokes are then interrupted by short brush-strokes in a differ- ent colour, so that the underpainting in many areas remains visible and continues to form the basis of the structure. Paint applications are layered, and the direction of the strokes varies. In the area of the sea Dubois-Pillet even changes to horizontal strokes crossed with vertical lines. In some cases he worked wet-in-wet, but there were also dry phases. He used pure colours along with blends (figs. 11, 12), but avoided dull colours and often contrasted blue and pink, violet and yellow. One particular feature is the signature and dedication, added after the painting was dry; here Dubois- Pillet used the mixture of capitals and lower-case that had been typical of him since 1884 [Bazalgette 1976, p. 53] (fig. 3). The original texture of the surface has been impaired by earlier restoration measures (fig. 10).

Albert Dubois-Pillet
Quai de Lesseps-Rouen, c. 1887, oil on canvas, 31.8 x 45.7 cm, WRM Dep. FC 743

Albert Dubois-Pillet

born on 28 October 1846 in Paris,
died on 18 August 1890 in Le Puy

Brief report with complete data as downloadable pdf-file

Further illustrations:

Fig. 02

Verso, lined


Fig. 03

Detail, signature and dedication


Fig. 04

Detail, foldover edge with stretchmarks resulting from the
original stretching; replaced nails


Fig. 05

Detail, raking light; stretchmarks resulting from the original stretching, reinforcement of the canvas structure by lining


Fig. 06

Red-chalk underdrawing where there are gaps in the paint,
microscopic photograph (M = 1 mm)


Fig. 07

Attempt at reconstruction, red-chalk stroke on ground,
varnished, microscopic photograph (M = 1 mm)


Fig. 08

Mapping of the visible red-chalk strokes of the underdrawing


Fig. 09

Very dense paint applications, microscopic photograph
(M = 1 mm)


Fig. 10

Abrasion of the paintlayer on the high points of the canvas weave; subsequent lining has totally flattened the surface of the picture, microscopic photograph (M = 1 mm)


Fig. 11

Blend of pink and pale blue, microscopic photograph (M = 1 mm)


Fig. 12

Rose madder, microscopic photograph (M = 1 mm)